FC Cincinnati asserted their dominance in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One series, securing a convincing 2-0 victory over Jamaican club Cavalier in the first leg at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.

The match witnessed early and intense action, with both teams having promising opportunities to score within a span of 30 seconds. Sergio Santos of FC Cincinnati initiated the action, heading a shot at Cavalier goalkeeper Jeadine White. In response, Cavalier's Orlando Russell's shot at goal was thwarted by a save from FC Cincinnati custodian Roman Celetano.

Santos came close to breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute, striking the crossbar with a powerful shot. However, his persistence paid off just before half-time when Bret Halsey found Santos, who skillfully slotted home a shot, giving FC Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Cavalier aimed to stage a comeback and tested the FC Cincinnati defense. A crucial moment occurred in the 64th minute, with Shaniel Thomas, the top scorer in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, seemed poised to take a shot but FC Cincinnati's Yuya Kubo intervened with a last-ditch slide tackle, clearing the imminent threat.

Determined to further assert their dominance, FC Cincinnati sought a second goal and they came close in the 82nd minute when Pavel Bucha unleashed a volley from a corner kick that grazed the crossbar.

The coveted second goal materialized for FC Cincinnati in the 87th minute, orchestrated by a slick back heel from Arquimides Ordonez. Malik Pinto sealed the deal with a powerful and well-placed right-footed finish, securing the 2-0 victory and putting Cavalier on the ropes as FC Cincinnati will carry this advantage into the next leg, aiming to advance further in the competition.

Jamaica Premier League club, Portmore United Football Club has signed national player Alex Marshall on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Former Cavalier SC and Jamaica player William ‘Roy’ Welch died on Saturday night at the University Hospital of the West Indies. He was 73. Welch, who was admitted to hospital a week ago, died at 11:59 pm Saturday after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer.

 Defender Kyle Ming scored in the 84th minute to hand Cavalier a hard-fought 1-0 win over Vere United and seal a semi-final spot in the Jamaica Premier League on Saturday.

During the match played at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, Ming latched onto a beautiful defence-splitting pass from Melvin Doxilly and fired past the advancing goalkeeper Kadeem Davis.

It was a crucial win for Cavalier that saw them leapfrog both Tivoli Gardens and Mount Pleasant into second place and an automatic semi-final playoff spot. With their fifth win of the season, Cavalier now have 18 points, the same as Mount Pleasant but with a superior goal difference.

Waterhouse FC leads the league with 19 points.

Clarendon-based Vere United was suffering their fourth defeat and remained in fifth on 15 points.

This result also means that both Waterhouse and Cavalier will earn a bye into the semi-finals as the top two teams while Vere United will clash with fourth-placed Tivoli Gardens in the two-legged quarter-final playoff.

The other quarterfinal playoff will see third-placed Mount Pleasant will meet sixth-placed Harbour View also over two legs.

The winners of these two playoff series will face Waterhouse and Cavalier in the semi-final round.

Winning coach Rudolph Speid of Cavalier was satisfied with his young team improving with every game.

“We were playing too conservative because we were aware of the counter but in the second half, if you noticed, Kyle Ming started pushing up a lot more, getting more aggressive with his runs and that was a plan for us and it paid off,” Speid explained.

“Early in the season, we were playing for players to have personal milestones but in the latter, it’s all teamwork now and we playing for the team now.”

Meanwhile, losing coach Donovan Duckie said there is nothing they could have done to prevent that goal as the pass was world-class.

“It was a brilliant pass. It’s been a while since I have seen a pass break three lines and kudos to Cavalier. They would have advanced to the second spot and we are in the top six,” said Duckie.

“We are looking forward to the first game in the quarterfinal and we are looking to return to full strength. Our short term goals are there and it is a reality for us to compete for the title and we are in it to win it.”  

Two goals in four minutes spurred Cavalier to a 3-0 win over Arnett Gardens as actions continued in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) at the JFF-UWI/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

After playing second fiddle for most of the game, Cavalier struck decisively in the 52^nd minute when Shaniel Thomas slotted home from a Ronaldo Webster cross. Four minutes later, Melvin Doxilly’s scissor kick made it 2-0. Thomas would his second goal in the 79th minute slotting home from close range after Dwayne Atkinson’s shot rebounded off the crossbar.

It was a brilliant build-up involving Atkinson, who combined well with Kamoy Simpson to split the Arnett backline.

The win meant that Cavalier moved to the top of the JPL standings with seven points from four games while Arnett Gardens remained in eighth spot on three points from three games.

It was their first loss to Cavalier in their last five meetings, Arnett Gardens should have taken the lead in the sixth minute when Steve Clarke picked out Renaldo Cephas in the box but the latter dragged his shot wide.

They would dominate the half taking 11 shots at goal. Cavalier, meanwhile, failed to register a single shot.

Arnett began the second half well with Hardley Barnes firing just wide in the 48th minute.

However, Cavalier gradually began to turn things around and ended the game brilliantly by a margin that could have been wider Shaniel Thomas’ goal not been ruled out for offside.

St Lucian defender Melvin Doxilly, who started in midfield, was named Man-of-the-Match for his scissor-kick goal.

“It was an amazing goal. I told myself I will score today and I want to say thanks to the Most High for making me score my goal today,” said Doxilly.

Meanwhile, Cavalier’s assistant coach Everdean Scarlett was happy for the win. “It’s a game of two halves. The first half they had the better of us but at half-time, we went in and made some changes. We decided that we are going to press Arnett more and get into the spaces,” said Scarlett.

Losing coach Alex Thomas said his young team still has a lot to learn.

“We have to learn to play both halves, first and second. We played a wonderful first half and in the second we came out flat and gave up some simple goals. But we have to learn, they are young and we are in a rebuilding process and we just have to keep working.”

Defender Andre Dyce’s fifth-minute goal lead Dunbeholden FC to a 1-0 win over Cavalier SC in their Jamaica Premier League encounter at the Stadium East field.